Funds are requested to support for the 2012 (July 15-20, Vermont Academy), 2014, and 2016 offerings of the FASEB Summer Research Conference entitled: Phospholipid Metabolism: Disease, Signal Transduction, and Membrane Biophysics. The subject area receives considerable support from the NIH with nearly 500 active projects sustained by funds provided by NIH institutes and has generated ~5000 peer reviewed research publications each year in the past decade. This is an on-going conference that was first offered as a phospholipases meeting in 1988. The conference has changed substantially from its original offering and now encompasses most of the major disciplines related to phospholipid metabolism, phospholipid signaling, and membrane biophysics. Furthermore, the conference has become more relevant to members of the general biomedical research community, as research in the field had become increasingly multidisciplinary. In large part, this has been driven by the availability of molecular and pharmacological tools for enzymes that metabolize phospholipids and by availability of knockout mice lacking these enzymes. This has allowed researchers in other areas to investigate the involvement of phospholipids in specific cellular functions as well as physiological and pathophysiological processes. The meeting highlights advances in these areas and also focuses on lipid/ protein trafficking, nuclear lipid signaling, and oxidized phospholipids, disciplines that have not been major foci in the past. The shift in emphasis not only underscores the research interests of the organizers, but is also a deliberate attempt to broaden the focus of the meeting to engage new researchers who might not otherwise attend the conference. The meeting is organized into eight themes, which feature 30- minute talks by invited speakers who are leaders in the field and 15-minutes talks to be chosen from among submitted abstracts. Two poster sessions are included as well as an informal discussion of the state of the art of lipidomics/ lipid mass spectrometry led by Core Directors i the LIPID MAPS group. The Organizers will invite young investigators to present the 15-minute talks and will use these slots to recruit additional female speakers and speakers from underrepresented groups. Funds from this proposal will be used to provide travel awards for such individuals and also to enable them to bring members of their laboratories to the conference. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Funds are requested to support for the 2012 (July 15-20, Vermont Academy), 2014, and 2016 offerings of the FASEB Summer Research Conference entitled: Phospholipid Metabolism: Disease, Signal Transduction, and Membrane Biophysics. This is a broad subject area that encompasses both basic and translational science that underscores atherosclerosis, diabetes, inflammation, cancer, and other diseases. The funds will primarily be used to enable young investigators to attend the meeting as involvement of such individuals is essential to ensure that our discipline continues to evolve to meeting the health care needs of the 21st century.